1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a food container such as a salad bowl, and in particular to a container that may be stored on a store shelf in an upright manner so as to readily display the container contents to a store customer.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been a number of salad bowls made of plastic moldable materials, such as PVC or PET, which are used for holding food products. The bowls typically have a cylindrical configuration with a generally circular cover that fits over the top of the bowl for maintaining the contents of the bowl from falling out. The cover can be either a xe2x80x9csnap on coverxe2x80x9d, one that can be reused if desired, or a sealed cover, one that is adhered to the top edge of the bowl by suitable means, such as adhesive or heat, and which cannot be reused.
For the purposes of display in stores, if the bowls are placed on the shelves of the store in their conventional manner, i.e., one on top of the other, then the contents of the bowls are not readily observable by someone walking down the aisles of the store. It is well known by those in the grocery trade that the more visible the product, the more likely it is that the consumer will buy the product. It would be advantageous therefore, to have a bowl that may be stackable one upon the other for purposes of shipment or storage while capable of being displayed in a stable upright position when placed on store shelves for sale.
In accordance with the present invention a conventional bowl or container may be stored on its side in an upright position so that the contents of the bowl will be facing the customer as the customer walks down the aisle of the store. This is achieved by having a foot or platform portion of the molded bowl arranged so as to provide stable footing for the bowl placed in the upright position. More specifically, the foot consists of a segment of the bowl that extends from the side wall of the bowl in a rearward and downward direction, terminating in a flat surface portion that is substantially in alignment with the top surface of the bowl. The top surface or peripheral edge of the bowl therefore forms one point of contact with the store shelf, and the flat surface of the foot forms a second point of contact with the store shelf, maintaining the bowl in an upright orientation.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a removable cover is interlockably attached to the bowl and may be repeatedly attached and removed from the bowl. The cover removably attaches to the top edge of the bowl in any number of well known manners.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bowl that can be set on its side and maintained in an upright orientation;
It is a further object of the invention to provides a bowl that can be easily made in one piece of plastic material.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from a review of the accompanying specification and drawings.